For the sake of Christmas and our happiness, let us pretend Santa Claus does indeed exist. And in our imaginations Santa Claus is black. But that’s as far as we go. We are not going to act like Santa Claus, black or otherwise, is omnipresent. The man has one job: to deliver toys all around the world.
Now that we have those things out of the way, let us talk about the black men who choose to play the role of Santa Claus in malls around America. They are the real St. Nick’s stunt doubles, doing his dirty work while he preps for tonight’s long shift. Most do a fine job of it, like Langston Patterson in Los Angeles, but others are given such a hard time, we have to wonder, is being a Santa Claus worth it?
The black Santa Claus at the Macy’s on 34th Street in New York City is relegated to a secret area, which was discovered by the believers at Animal New York. He was asked if he heard about Fox News anchor’s Megyn Kelly’s comments (Santa is white!). The jolly old fellow said he did, but wouldn’t go into details because he hasn’t had time to watch much TV.
Still, that guy's job of being a black Santa in the largest Macy’s in the world seems to be a lot easier than the black Santa Claus in Southeast Washington, D.C. According to WJLA 7, a man dressed as Santa was partaking in a toy giveaway when he was shot with a pellet gun. He wanted to continue his duties, but medics insisted he go to the hospital. In an ironic twist, a man dressed as the Grinch helped the Southeast D.C. Black Santa.
Jozen Cummings is the author and creator of the popular relationship blog Until I Get Married, which is currently in development for a television series with Warner Bros. He also hosts a weekly podcast with WNYC about Empire called Empire Afterparty, is a contributor at VerySmartBrothas.com and works at Twitter as an editorial curator. Follow him on Twitter.